Dr. Acrisio Pires

In this talk I will present the results of collaborative work showing that single-question wh-in-situ occurs in English under specific discourse-pragmatics (1)-(2). I will argue these questions are possible only when the information being requested is part of the Common Ground (CG) (Stalnaker 1978). The same analysis constrains wh-in-situ in Brazilian Portuguese (BP) (1c)-(2c), restricting the optionality of wh-in-situ. It will then be proposed that both languages display a [+wh] complementizer that does not trigger wh-movement. This is supported by the fact that wh-in-situ in both languages is not subject to the same locality conditions associated with wh-in- situ in a language such as French, and is also not an instance of head-movement.

 (1)     a. A: I made desserts.

         b. B: You    made what kind  of desserts?

         c. B: Você fez     que     tipo  de sobremesa?

 (2)     a.  B. Attorney:  Tell me what happened on January 1, 2005 at 4 pm

             A. Defendant: I was driving along Andrews Avenue.

         b. B. Attorney:    And the police officer said you were traveling about how fast?

         c. B:                  E     o policial disse que você estava dirigindo em que velocidade?